The Lily and the Stag
by TheWordThief
Summary: They were two different sides of a coin, predictable to everyone but themselves. One muggleborn with fiery hair, the other pureblood with messy black hair and a smirk to match. But what everyone knew; what James and Lily should've known, is that they were meant to be. And when a terrible event shakes Lily Evan's life, they learn that sometimes, you have to let the inevitable happen
1. Prologue: Friends and Firewhiskey

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, this fanfiction is purely for the enjoyment of myself and other Harry Potter fans. It is not affiliated with JK Rowling and all characters and settings belong to her, unless not mentioned in the books.

Chapter 1- Friends and Firewhiskey

"For the last time, guys, my constantly yelling at Potter is not,I repeat _not,_ an attempt to disguise my infatuation with him! It is simply because I find him very, very annoying! Always have, always will. Seriously, how much Firewhiskey have you had? I mean, just because we're of age now…" Lily Evans, newly appointed Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, rolled her eyes at her two best friends, who were sitting next to her at the bar at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Aw come on Lils! Why is it you're the only one who can't see how perfect you two are? And don't change the subject, although you really should lighten up, you're not properly Head Girl yet" teased the girl sitting on her left, a raven haired girl by the name Marlene McKinnon. "Anyway…" she continued. "It's not even as though you hate him any more, it's more of a ….mutual dislike? Nah, Potter's obsessively in love with you, any fool can see that…more of a…come on Al, help me out! It's more of a…"

"Friendly enmity?" suggested Alice Noble, who was sitting on Lily's other side. She was a half-blood-her dad was muggleborn whereas her mum was one of the Prewetts, one of the oldest wizarding families. Marlene, on the other hand, was a pureblood and Lily was muggleborn-no-one else in her family was magical, although her parents had been thrilled when she got her letter.

"Friendly enmity?" Marlene scoffed. " Doesn't that contradict itself? Kinda rhymes though…friendly enmity, friendly enmity, friendly enmity…" She caught Alice's eye and they both dissolved into giggles. Lily sighed and rolled her eyes but the giggling was infectious and the Firewhiskey must have gone to her head because before long, she had joined in her friends hysterical laughter. It felt good to let go, to laugh to the exclusion of everything else, like they had done when they were younger, before they became aware that the stuff of nightmares could actually be real.

A/N: I know this chapter is pathetically small, it looked a lot longer when it was scrawled across a page of A4! They get longer, promise.


	2. Morsmordre

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with the world created by the amazing JK Rowling.**

Chapter 2- Morsmordre

It was dusk when Lily apparated back to the Muggle village where she lived with her parents and annoying older sister Petunia. Petunia was engaged to an absolutely horrible man called Vernon Dursley and whilst Lily was not looking forward to being related to him, she couldn't wait for them to marry, as Petunia would finally move out. She felt a momentary pang of guilt and regret when she thought like that, before quickly dismissing it. Yes, she missed the time when her and her sister were practically joined at the hip but after the many insults she'd had to endure from Petunia about her magical abilities, she wasn't going to waste time trying to mend a relationship that was long broken.

Lily turned into the road where her house was situated and stopped. She had been so caught up in her thoughts, still giggling to herself about the mad things she got up to with her friends that she had failed to notice the green, glowing skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth, hovering ominously over her little cottage.

The Dark Mark. The mark left by the Death Eaters wherever….whenever….they had killed.

Already a small crowd of bewildered Muggles had gathered, gaping. As Lily approached, running now, murmurs broke out.

"That's her….that's her daughter…"

The front door came into view and Lily reeled back and stood, staring. It had been blasted off it's hinges by what the ingrained good student instantly, automatically recognised as a powerful Reducto Curse. For a while she stood, numb with shock and fear.

The cracks signifying Apparation brought her back to her senses. She looked around as wizards in Auror robes appeared, seemingly out of thin air and made their way over to the now terrified muggles. It was then that the gravity of the situation hit her and she rushed forwards into the house, unaware of the two Aurors following her.

Inside the house, it was as though nothing had changed. Even as she walked through, in her shocked daze, she could see the steam rising from a recently boiled kettle. She made her way into the living room cautiously but years of foreboding newspaper headlines could not prepare her for what was inside.

The bodies of her parents lay, crumpled on the floor. Horrified, she ran over to them and fell to her knees, frantically searching for signs of life even though rationally she knew there couldn't be any because the Avada Kedavra never left any alive…

The sound of cruel, exhilarated laughter made her aware of the fact she was not alone. She turned around and stifled a scream as she was confronted by the triumphant faces of the notorious Bellatrix Black, Rodulphus Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov. Slowly, she stood up, never taking her eyes off them.

"There are Aurors outside." Her own voice, strained and cracked with grief, surprised her.

Bellatrix's smile got wider.

"No matter, we've been waiting for you. Just like your stupid muggle parents…the world's better of without them…and you…mudblood."

Her eyes flickered to the wall. Lily followed her gaze and felt a swell of nausea as she saw the word 'Mudblood' daubed on the walls…in blood. Lily didn't want to learn whose.

Her eyes snapped back to the Death Eaters just as Bellatrix raised her wand.

"Avada-"

But Lily was too quick for them.

"Reducto!" she screamed. The spell was powerful, fuelled by anger and grief and blasted the three killers backwards. At that moment, hearing the commotion, two Aurors burst into the room, having come from conducting a search of the house. Realising the situation in an instant, they raised their wands but before they could cast a spell, the Death Eaters disapparated.

Lily fell to her knees and for the first time that evening, started to sob brokenly. One of the Aurors came forwards tentatively.

"Miss Evans?" At the back of her mind, Lily wondered how it was that he knew her name. She lifted her tear-stained face upwards to look at him and saw that he looked vaguely familiar. He spoke again.

"Lily? I am so, so sorry. I'm David Potter; I believe you know my son, James?"

She gave an almost imperceptible nod and he knelt, putting an arm around her. It seemed like hours that she knelt there, crying inconsolably, though in fact it was only a few minutes. When she had recovered enough to withstand the journey, Mr Potter gripped her arm and took her by Side-Along Apparation away from the bodies of her parents and the ruins of her life; to the Potters' house.

**A/N: Please review and tell me what you think! :)**


	3. An Unlikely Shoulder to Cry On

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter still doesn't belong to me. Unfortunately. Last time I checked it was still the property of JK Rowling.**

Chapter 3- An Unlikely Shoulder To Cry On

Ten minutes later, Lily was sitting at the table of someone who, until she'd decided such things were really a little childish, had been her sworn enemy. James' mum, Helen, had gone over to Lily the minute they had appeared, having been forewarned by her husband and pulled her into a hug. Having checked the bereaved girl was not going to faint, she then proceeded to sit her down with a mug of hot chocolate. For a while they sat in silence, Lily blankly staring into the depths of her mug whilst the Potters shot worried glances at her. Suddenly, a commotion broke the silence as two boys came hurtling into the room.

"Dad, how was it, what happened, was anyone hurt, did you catch anyone, did anyone-" James said all of this very fast, without drawing breath before his eyes alighted on the red-head sitting at his kitchen table. _Her. _"Oh…oh Merlin, Lils? Wh-what happened? Are you alright?" His voice had dropped to a gentle, comforting tone, even as his hand jumped instinctively to his hair and messed it up.

Sirius, who was behind James, frowned.

"Wait, what? Lils? As in Lily Evans? Evans? What in the name of Merlin's left sock is Evans doing in your kitchen?"

Unusually, James ignored his best mate and went over to Lily, pulling her into a gentle hug. Distraught, Lily clung to him and dissolved into tears.

"James?" his dad asked after a while. "Who are her close friends? I mean, she could stay with us but I think she'd be happier…elsewhere." The tone of his dad's voice told James that he hadn't been as discreet as he would have liked about his feelings for Lily Evans.

"Um, right, yeah, um…Marlene McKinnon but they're really busy with the Order, she probably wouldn't like it. She'd probably prefer to sty with Alice, Alice Noble- she's more…I dunno, more…kinda quietly understanding than Marlene."

"Ok." His dad said softly, giving his son a comforting pat on the shoulder. James hated to see Lily hurting and this was the most vulnerable he had ever seen her. The kitchen relapsed into silence. There was nothing more to say.

**A/N: Another short chapter, sorry! I've flicked through what I've written so far and they do seem to get longer, in retrospect the last two chapters could have made one. Oh well, less typing at a time for me, I suppose. For someone who spends so much time on the computer, I really hate typing. **

**Thankyou so much to those to have followed/ added this to their favourites! Please review this and tell me what you think. **

**DFTBA :)**


	4. Letters

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Harry Potter, it all belongs to JK Rowling, without whom, this story would not exist and I would probably have a social life.**

Chapter 4- Letters

Freak,

How could you? You and your stupid magic, I hope you're sorry. I said all along your curse was dangerous. OUR PARENTS Lily! I said all along that sooner or later you'd pay, that you should have left it alone, that you were dangerous, that we needed protection from you. That could have been me! If I hadn't have been out with Vernon, you would've had yet another death on your hands, as if the death of our parents, our only family, wasn't enough. I suppose you thought it all glamorous, you and your fancy new world, too good for us. Now they're dead. DEAD. We're orphans and it's your fault.

Petunia

P.S. On no account can you stay with me and Vernon. As far as I'm concerned, you're not my sister. I told the Orah or whatever that you can stay with your fellow freaks for all I care.

Tuney,

Or Petunia. Fine. I know you don't like Tuney. It was only ever me that called you that and I don't suppose you want to think about the fact we used to be friends. But anyway.

Please, please, please don't be like this. It wasn't my fault, it was You-Know-Who, well, you don't know who but anyway, the point is, don't blame me. Don't hate me. I guess it's a little late for that but still.

I've lost Mum and Dad. I don't want to lose you too.

Always your loving sister,

Lily xxx

Evans,

Sorry about your parents. No, really, I'm not just being polite. I know how it feels to have no-one. My parents may not be dead but they're as good as. Sorry. Didn't mean to burden you with my problems. Sorry if I was insensitive the other night. I didn't know. Anyways…my…I think the word I'm looking for is condolences.

Black

P.S. I overheard Mr Potter telling Helen what your sister said when he went round. I wasn't eavesdropping, I just happened to overhear but yeah…what I wanted to say is don't listen to her. She's obviously a bitch.

Sirius,

Thanks for your letter. It meant a lot, especially the last bit. Maybe you're not as immature and insensitive as you think and as I thought. Notice I've upgraded to using your actual name. Wonders will never cease.

Evans

P.S. What did you mean about your parents? I'll understand if you don't want to say.

P.P.S. Thanks again. You were really understanding.

Lily,

Let's just say you're not the only one with family members who hate and have disowned you. See you at Hogwarts. Keep your head high, keep smiling even when you think you can't. moping won't achieve anything, except maybe deterring James from asking you out and then Remus, Peter and I will be deprived of our weekly source of entertainment. Nah, who am I kidding? He'll never stop.

Sirius

Freak,

The funeral's on Wednesday. Don't bother coming. No one wants you there. Vernon and I are going ahead with our plans for the wedding. You're not welcome there either.

Petunia

Petunia,

I'll see you at the funeral.

Lily

P.S. I don't want to come to the wedding anyway. I'll only ruin it for you and contrary to your belief, I'm not that selfish. I hope you and the walrus are very happy together.

Lils,

Oh Merlin, I am so sorry. I couldn't believe it when I heard! If you need me, I'm here. I'm always here for you. Best friends. Library buddies. I hope you're OK, or as OK as you can be. Oh Merlin, I don't know what to say.

Thinking of you,

Remus

Lily,

I really hope you're alright. I know you hate me but I'm always here for you. Smile. It'll get better.

With love,

James

Potter James,

Thanks. For everything.

Lily x

**Sorry for the wait, hope you enjoyed it! Please review and tell me what you think. **


	5. Firsts and Lasts

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't Harry Potter, it all still belongs to JK Rowling. I checked.**

**Chapter 5 is here! Sorry for the wait, I had school work (damn GCSEs), also I'm a slow typer and this is the longest chapter yet! **

**But enough with the excuses, it's the holidays now so I shall try update lots to make up for it!**

**Shoutout to Philippe Holden, my first ever reviewer, thank you so, so much! You have no idea how excited that made me! Also to tardism, my friend Tilda, who is amazing and has spammed me with reviews! And no, I didn't write this in an English lesson, however, the first part of my new fic After The War: A New Dawn, was. :) And you'll have to wait for your ending I'm afraid, I have 12 chapters written and a long way to go!**

**On to the chapter; enjoy!**

Chapter 5- Firsts and Last

Kings Cross was always busy on September 1st. Always busy, always strange, reflected the station manager as yet another child laden with trunks and an owl- an owl!?- made their way towards Platform 10. Although, it was strange because every year they all seemed to head towards Platform 10 yet mysteriously disappear before they got there. Still, he reasoned, shaking his head, working at one of the busiest stations in the country, he had come to expect strange individuals, all united momentarily at the platform, before boarding a train and dispersing. After all, he thought, going back to what he was doing, the world was full of strange people, it was just that at train stations, you got an unusually large concentration of them.

The two girls stood together hand-in-hand, surveying the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. This was the last time they would step through the barrier as students. They stood silently for a minute, reflecting on 6 years worth of journeys.

Lily stifled a sob. This was the last time she would through the barrier, unless she brought her own children here one day. It was also a first. The first time her parents would not walk through with her, drink in the scene with wondering eyes, gazing at a world they could only dream of. The first time they would not be there to kiss her goodbye. How could such a gaping wound as their loss be healed in just two short weeks? How could she go to school, carry on, be the Head Girl Hogwarts deserved without their support?

She started as someone took her hand. She glanced across and saw it was Alice. It was then that it hit her. She would carry on because she had to, because she should be the daughter her parents deserved, because she was the schools figurehead in a time of war. She would carry on because every step of the way, her friends would be there, supporting her, believing in her and making her believe in her as well.

Looking down, she caught Alice's eye, gave a small smile and together, the two girls stepped forwards through the barrier and emerged, blinking in the sudden light, onto Platform 9 ¾.

James and Sirius stood looking at the barrier they had just come through, feeling oddly sentimental, something they didn't usually go in for; as Sirius said 'They were far too manly for that sort of rubbish'. Seven September 1sts had gone by, yet nothing would ever prepare them for the wonder and excitement of emerging to the sight of the gleaming scarlet Hogwarts Express, proud and magnificent among the tendrils of smoke. Presently, they were joined by Remus, eyes misty as he recalled how scared he'd been on his first train ride and then Peter, who was running late as usual. Remus surveyed his friends, grinning to himself. If his 11 year old self could see him now…happy, with friends who not only knew what he was but accepted it. How much could change in 6 years, he reflected. The Marauders regarded each other solemnly for a moment before three of their faces broke into identical, evil grins.

"My dorm-mates, housemates, friends and brothers…" intoned Sirius, barely suppressing a grin.

"…it is with great sadness and regret that we must acknowledge the passing of an era…" continued Remus, managing to keep a straight face far better than his two co-conspirators.

"Never before, since the beginning of our friendship, have we been without the company…" contributed Peter. James, guessing what it was about, rolled his eyes.

"…of the great James Potter, new Head Boy of Hogwarts!" finished Sirius before promptly dissolving into his bark-like laughter. "Sorry mate, it's just…you, Head Boy! Having to be all responsible and stuff."

James, who had had to put up with this since getting his badge, sighed.

"Come on Padfoot, your know me. D'you really think I'll suddenly turn all rule-abiding and serious-"

"No, I'm Sirius!"

"Just because Dumbledore's finally lost it and made me, of all people, Head Boy?" James continued, pretending not to have heard his friends last comment. That joke really was getting a bit old. "Once a Marauder, always a Marauder. Agreed?" he finished.

The four friends grinned at each other before reciting

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Magical Mischief Making…

Forever." They finished triumphantly. There was a pause before Remus turned to James.

"So Prongs, thought of any good pranks yet?"

"Lily!" a voice behind her screamed. Lily had just enough time to turn around before Marlene launched herself at her, almost knocked her over and enveloped her into a tight hug. There was no need for her to say anything: the hug conveyed what a few empty words could not.

Across the platform, Sirius nudged James, causing him to look a little to the right.

"Hey Prongs…"

James followed Sirius' line of sight and immediately saw what his friend was pointing out. Lily. She was standing in a group with her two best friends, Marlene and Alice. James felt his insides somersault as they did every time he saw her. Life had a really crap sense of humour. Handing him a beautiful girl, perfect in every way and make him fall head over heels, irrevocably in love with her. It would be the perfect romance except for the fact that his every action seemed to have constantly pissed her off for the past 6 years. Even he couldn't pretend she was just trying to hide her true feelings. James frowned and concentrated on Lily. She looked terrible. It had been two weeks since he'd last seen her but since then she seemed to have aged a lifetime. Or three. On the outside, she looked perfect, as always. Immaculate uniform, shimmering copper hair perfectly in place, a neatly stacked array of luggage adorning her feet. It was only because he had known her for so long that James could see how close she was to cracking, to losing it, to breaking down completely. On close inspection, it was easy to see her clenched fists, her nails digging into her palm, the huge grey shadows under her eyes and her eyes themselves, emerald orbs filled with so much pain. He took a hesitant step forward, wanting to comfort her but Remus gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let me go first…she's less likely to kill me on sight…" James frowned but relented, knowing what his friend said was true. Lily had been good friends with Remus for years but until the end of last year, had completely despised James and still wasn't overly fond of him.

Together, the two boys walked up to the girls. Remus stepped forward and Lily turned towards him with a small smile.

"Hey Remus, how was your summer?" she queried with a pathetic attempt at nonchalance.

Remus gazed at her apprehensively and raised his eyebrows.

"Nice try." He said, ignoring her question. It hadn't meant anything anyway. Any fool could see she wouldn't listen to the answer.

"How was yours?" he asked, gently but with a determined edge that told Lily he wanted a real answer. He deserved one too. Remus was one of her trusted confidants. What other people could be fobbed off with wouldn't work on Remus. He was like her brother.

"As good as it could be." She murmured, eyes welling up, then, with an attempt at light-heartedness. "Could have done without all the homework though."

With the quick mindedness she loved him for, Remus continued to lighten the mood. "Yeah, tell me about it. Haven't even started NEWT year yet and I'm on my way to a mental breakdown…d'you reckon Dumbledore's told the teachers that if half of us end up in St Mungos by the end of the year, they'll get a pay rise?"

Lily gave a weak chuckle and was about to think of a reply when Sirius shout.

"Oi, Moony, over here for a second!"

"Sorry Lily, I should go…I've done what James needed and now I'm going to leave you alone whilst I cross examine your friends to find out how much you were lying to me." He gave her a quick hug, then with a subtle wink at James, departed with Alice and Marlene, immediately beginning a tirade of questions.

Lily and James were left staring at each other awkwardly. It was Lily who finally broke the silence.

"So…what did Remus do?"

"What? Oh…he talked to you first. I wanted to…see how you were…but…well, I'd like to actually see Hogwarts this year before you murder me so…" he trailed off. 'Lily Evans' he thought bitterly 'is the one girl I want to talk to most but the only girl I ever have difficulty stringing together a coherent sentence in front of.'

Lily gave a small laugh at his confession before saying "I guess he's good at that sort of thing. Remus, I mean. He always knows what to say."

"Yeah."

"He always knows what to say to make me feel better." She said in a small voice. James' eyes jerked up and their eyes met.

"Listen Lily, I just wanted…I mean I'm not trying to be r-rude or upset you…it's just…after wh-what happened…well, I've been worrying about you all the rest of the summer and I just wanted to say that I hope you're OK because I can't bear it when you're unhappy and well, are you alright?" he finished in a rush. He took a deep breath and looked down at his shoes, cheeks on fire.

'Well done Potter, smart move.' He berated himself. 'Not only have I managed to make a complete idiot of myself but I probably sounded like a right insensitive prat whilst doing it!'

To his surprise, she didn't slap him round the face. He looked up and saw her staring at him.

"Yeah, I'm alright." She answered quietly. "Or at least I will be, I think." Her voice dropped to almost a whisper.

"Pott- er, James…I just wanted to say thanks. For being there when I needed you. And for being there when I didn't want you but needed you anyway." Her voice died away but luckily, they were spared the embarrassment of another long silence by Sirius.

"OI, PRONGS AND EVANS! You have precisely 2 minutes to get your stuff on the train before it leaves. A nice pickle it would be if the Head Girl and Boy BOTH missed the train!"

James turned to stare at Lily, noticing for the first time the small red and gold badge pinned to her chest. She was staring back at him with shock to match his own.

"Wait…you're Head Boy?"

**There you go! I thought this dragged a little; I wrote more about Platform 9 3/4 than I did Lily's parent's murder, which seems a little weird, maybe the earlier chapters were a little rushed. I don't know. And anyway, there was a little bit of James/Lily cuteness at the end for all my fellow Jily shippers! I hope you enjoyed this and please review and let me know how I'm doing- this is my first fanfic and it's shaping up to be quite a long one!**

**TheWordThief xx **


	6. Train Journeys and Welcome Feasts Part 1

**AN: Firstly, I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS STORY! Or After The War. Nor am I planning to, I just had 14 exams in 2 weeks so was revising like crazy. I only have 3 left now though so the end is in sight! (for more info see my profile) This is the first part of chapter 6, it's a long chapter by my standards so I'm typing half at a time, as I obviously still have exams left and revision to do. I'm planning the next chapter of After The War, so that's coming too, as well as Part 2 of this chapter. Oh, and in the last few months I've been getting into the Star Trek fandom (live long and prosper) and recently saw Into Darkness which was so, so awesome and I have one-shots already planned for that. Thanks for bearing with me, it WILL pay off, once I've managed to get through these final few exams!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, it's all the property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros, I'm just playing in the wonderful world Rowling created.**

Chapter 6- Train Journey's and Welcome Feasts Part 1

"So…um, hi. Welcome back. I hope you all had great holidays. To the new 5th year prefects…erm…congrats you guys! I know the responsibility must be weighing heavily on your minds. Don't worry, though, all of us here have been there and know how you feel."

James heard Remus cough discreetly behind him.

"Well, actually," he concluded nervously. "I have no idea how you feel, never having been a prefect myself…Dumbledore kind of landed me in the deep-end and I've no idea what I'm doing to be honest-"

"That much is evident." He heard Remus whisper to Lily.

"-and, so, um, yeah." He finished lamely, causing Remus and Lily to dissolve into laughter. Apparently they had been struggling to maintain a straight face throughout his ordeal. He flushed and was immensely grateful when Lily stood up to take over. He sat down next to Remus, who greeted him with a slap on the back and a murmured 'well done mate'. Lily turned round to glare at them in warning before speaking.

"Basically, what that moron was trying to say" she paused in order to throw James a quick grin. "is that, despite having spent his entire school career to date causing havoc, is your new Head Boy, James Potter. I'm Lily Evans and I'm your Head Girl. We can allocate duties and stuff at our first prefect meeting but this is basically just an opportunity to introduce ourselves and answer any questions. Oh, and you'll need to patrol the train for a bit. Any questions?"

A sullen looking Slytherin 6th year spoke up.

"How come he's Head Boy? Has the headmaster finally lost it?"

Silence greeted this malicious statement.

James sat with his mouth open, shocked and suddenly unsure of himself, the doubts he'd been grappling with all summer suddenly rearing their ugly head. Whilst he would normally just laugh a stupid remark like that off, dismissing it as petty House rivalry, the Slytherin had struck a nerve.

Remus stood up ready to defend his friend but someone else beat him to it.

"James is more than capable and Professor Dumbledore obviously thinks him the best man for the job. Any issues you have, I suggest you take them up with the Headmaster. I'm sure he'd be very interested." The Head Girl finished, casting s thoughtful glance to the Slytherin's prefect badge, as though contemplating it's absence. She glanced around at the assembled prefects.

"Anyone else got any issues regarding James' appointment?"

They all flinched and shook their heads as her gaze rested on each of them in turn. It was a truth universally acknowledged that you did not ever get on Lily Evans' bad side. It was a truth most people agreed with, minus a certain Sirius Black and James Potter.

Her glare disappeared to be replaced by a quick smile.

"Well then…I think that concludes this meeting. Patrol the train and please don't abuse your powers!" She finished with a pointed glare at the Slytherins, whom she knew from experience would waste no time in imposing their authority, regardless of whether it needed to be imposed.

Slowly, the prefects filed out of the compartment. Remus was one of the last to leave, clapping James on the back with a quick 'see you later mate' before departing, leaving the Head Girl and Boy alone.

Surprisingly, it was Lily who spoke first. "You alright Potter?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just…he kinda has a point. I mean, when have I ever shouldered any sort of responsibility? I'm stupid, I'm reckless…why isn't Remus Head Boy, he'd be much better? I mean, for one thing" he said with a quick grin, "He actually pays attention to the school rules on occasion…"

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the last statement, Lily sat down next to him.

"Remus is lovely. He's responsible, mature…well, he is when he's not with you and Sirius, he's kind, he's understanding, he's the perfect prefect. He's not a leader. You are though. And we need a leader right now. Dumbledore obviously has faith in you…and so do I." she added as an afterthought, surprising herself, not to mention James.

"I suppose…I really messed up that speech thingy though. Yours was great but I genuinely thought you and Moony would each crack a rib during mine, you were trying not to laugh so much."

Lily laughed. "Yeah, well, Potter, that's because I, unlike you, was a prefect and therefore I've sat through two of those before and could basically copy. Besides, you have no idea how nervous I was. I mean, this, on top of everything…I even wrote to Professor Dumbledore asking him to withdraw my badge."

"He must have been bombarded with owls then. I wrote asking him the same and I know for a fact Padfoot wrote him four pages on why he could not split the Marauders up and how making me take responsibility was child abuse…"

Lily snorted, half in laughter, half in exasperation.

"I feel sorry for the school with both Heads suffering from a crisis of confidence." She laughed. Then her face grew sombre. "Listen James…I meant what I said just then. Dumbledore thinks you'll be fine and so do I. you've matured a lot over the last few years, I was just too stubborn to see it. You've managed to cheer me up and make me laugh, albeit unwillingly, for 6 years now. So, I know we haven't exactly been the best of friends…"

James grimaced as he recalled one memorable occasion in 3rd year when Lily, furious after the Marauders had bewitched her ink to fly at her, had pushed James and Sirius head first into the BlackLake.

"James?"

"Sorry, sorry, blanked for a moment there."

"Yes, well, I was saying…I know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye but maybe now we're both Heads and going to be seeing quite a lot more of each other…we could, you know, try being friends?" She coughed self-consciously. Yes, they'd at least been civil the past couple of years but there was years of enmity and misunderstandings between them.

James could hardly believe his ears. Lily Evans, the girl who had spurned his advances since they were eleven, wanted to be friends. He could feel his face split into a massive grin. "Yeah!"

'_Idiot Prongs. Instant way to blow your cool. Don't sound too eager, you prat.'_

"I-I mean, yeah. That would be…cool. Really, really…good."

Then, before he could embarrass himself further, he attempted his usual cocky grin.

"Last train trip, Evans. Be a shame to depart from tradition. Every year 'cept first I've asked you this, so…Evans, will you go out with me?"

Lily allowed herself a small smile before leaving the compartment.

"Nice try Potter. But like you said, tradition and all that, so I'm afraid the answer is still no."

She left and as James followed her, he reflected that her response hadn't been said with nearly as much venom as usual.

**Hope you liked it, please review and tell me what you think, I'd love to hear from you! Next part will be up as fast as I can type :)**

**-TheWordThief**


	7. Train Journeys and Welcome Feasts Part 2

**So here's the second part of Chapter 6, sorry for the wait, I'm the worlds slowest typer! Hope it's worth the wait! Thanks to all my amazing, lovely reviewers and everyone who has added to favourites/ followed this story so far, it means the world. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, it all belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling.**

Train Journeys and Welcome Feasts Part 2

"SLYTHERIN!"

James and Sirius booed enthusiastically as a timid looking first year scampered over to the farthest table, which was decked in green and silver. Remus sighed.

"Padfoot, Prongs, for Merlin's sake, the poor kid's only eleven! Have a little empathy! Remember how you felt?"

"Yeah but you see Moony, we got sorted into the greatest of the four houses, whereas he got into…"

"…Slytherin, the evil little git." Sirius finished James' explanation.

Peter giggled and Remus sighed in good natured defeat, knowing a lost cause when he saw one. Besides, James and Sirius might be prejudiced against Slytherin but he knew they had nothing against the first year really, just the colour of his tie.

They hat sorted a visibly relieved first year into Gryffindor, causing James and Sirius to erupt into raucous cheers. They did so for every new Gryffindor and booed every new Slytherin, disregarding the disapproving glares they were getting, both from Professor McGonagall and the Head Girl, who looked torn between anger and amusement. Finally, just as Sirius was beginning to loudly bemoan the lack of food, the Sorting was over. Professor Dumbledore stood up (Sirius groaned loudly). The old man smiled. "Now, now, Mr Black, I can assure you I will not take long. To our new students, welcome, I am sure that you will have settled in and found ten ways to seriously injure yourself in no time. To our old students, I bid you all welcome back. I would like to give a special welcome- " here Dumbledore's eyes seemed to take on a mischievous twinkle. "-to our new Head Boy and Girl, James Potter and Lily Evans. And now, having sufficiently embarrassed them, I heartily suggest you all tuck in!" He clapped his hands as he spoke the last two words and food appeared instantaneously on each of the tables.

"HEAR HEAR!" yelled Sirius loudly. "FOOD! FINALLY!" A ripple of laughter shook the hall before they all followed Sirius' example and tucked in.

Finally feeling rather full and dozily contented, the students settled down to listen to the Headmaster's speech. Dumbledore stood up and regarded them solemnly for a while before opening his mouth to speak.

"I need hardly remind you all of the dangers gathering outside these walls." His tone was grave now, all hint of merriment gone. "Lord Voldemort will stop at nothing to gain power and already we can see the effects of his followers, the Death Eaters, rampage through our community." His eyes swept the hall for a moment, quelling the inevitable whispers that had arisen with his use of the Dark Lord's name. For a moment, they alighted on Lily, sitting calm and erect as she listened. Only the tension in her shoulders and the slight glisten of tears in her eyes showed she was affected by the Headmaster's words.

"I do not tell you this to scare you but to put you on your guard." Dumbledore continued. "Voldemort's power comes from secrecy leading to fear and the fear leading to prejudice and prejudice leading to discord and like a disease this discord will grow and spread and infect. Classmate against classmate, house against house, friend against friend. So I urge you to stand strong. Stand united. Unite against the forces that are gathering, no matter what house to which you belong. Lay aside your differences and stand together."

"I would stand together with Snivellus if I wasn't afraid of getting covered in grease." Sirius whispered to James, whose unusually sombre expression relaxed into a more familiar grin.

Suddenly, Dumbledore broke into a smile. "On a brighter note, Quidditch tryouts will be held shortly and I'm sure the captains of each team will be eager to start training as soon as possible in order to win the Quidditch Cup, which I believe has been won the last few years by- "

Lily noticed the identical, evil grins on the Marauder's faces as they pulled out their wands far too late to act.

"-Gryffindor-" Dumbledore said and the word seemed to act like a trigger, for no sooner than the words had left his mouth, the robes of all the staff members turned to magnificent shades of red and gold. Simultaneously, several first-years screamed as lots of Dr Filibuster's Wet Start Fireworks were let of from the Gryffindor table where the four boys were sitting. As the commotion died down, the room rang with appreciative laughter. The Marauders stood up on the benches and bowed.

"Final year folks, we thought we'd start…"

"With a bang!" James finished Sirius' sentence.

"All the credit goes to our new Head Boy of course." Added Remus with a sly look at his friend.

Dumbledore chuckled in amusement.

"Welcome back Mr Black, Mr Potter, Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew. Well, I think that concludes our start-of-term feast. Now off you pop and wake up tomorrow ready to learn lots. Pip-pip!"

There was a scattered round of applause and a mass scraping of chairs as the students exited the hall.

Lily was making her way out of the hall, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her spin round.

"What do you want Pot- I mean James?"

James just smiled, somehow managing to appear both sweet and innocent (hardly likely) and mysterious at the same time. Lily supposed it'd been perfected after years of trying to convince teachers he had no idea why –insert prank here-. Sighing half seriously, she waved goodbye to her friends as James pulled her towards the Staff Table.

Dumbledore greeted them with his usual enthusiasm and Professor McGonagall, who was the only other member of staff now present, gave them a rare smile.

"Now, I only called you here to firstly, congratulate you on your appointment…and, I suppose, to congratulate myself on persuading you to accept it." he added as an afterthought, chuckling. "And to tell you the password to your new living quarters. They are situated behind the Gryffindor hanging in the common room. You have a separate room and en-suite each and a joint study. The password is Priori Incantatum. You can change it at any time if you wish, as long as you inform me."

"We're not in the dorms?"

"No Mr Potter, so I'm afraid you and your friends will have to come up with another time to plan your pranks, as oppose to late at night when you should be asleep. You do, however, have the choice of the common room or your study, so there are benefits. Is that all? Good. Off you pop, I'm sure you're both very tired." Dumbledore dismissed them jovially. Lily and James turned to go. They were just out of the door when Professor McGonagall called out to them.

"Potter, Evans."

"Yes Professor?"

"You may both have your doubts but I fully believe you both to be not only capable but the best candidates for the role. Congratulations. I have full faith in you both and look forward to a year with your leadership."

Both the students were momentarily overcome by this short speech from their usually strict professor. James broke the silence with his carefree smile and trademark quip.

"Knew you had a soft spot for me really Professor."

Rolling her eyes, Lily dragged him from the room.

**Hope you enjoyed it, if you have a moment, please let me know what you think!**

**TheWordThief xx**


	8. Roommates Part 1

**Hi! This is the first part of the seventh chapter, I will upload the rest soon but I can only type so fast and I wanted to upload something today, as it is September 1st! I hope no-one missed the train and that everyone enjoyed the Welcome Feast! I hope you enjoy this next instalment, please leave a review to let me know what you think, I thrive on feedback!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, everything from that universe is the property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros. **

Chapter 7- Roommates 

_The door, blasted of it's hinges…the kettle, just boiled…the bodies…the blood. The laughter, the ringing, maniacal, elated laughter…then Tuney, her face twisted in hate, rage, disgust…and fear, though she did her best to mask it. "It's your fault!" she spat venomously, her words spiteful, designed to hit home. Hit hard. "Your fault, all your fault, you FREAK!" Petunia was replaced by her parents, eyes blank, faces sunken and wasted, "You…you did this…you…" someone, far off, was screaming…another voice was calling her name, gently, coaxing her awake. The screaming was louder now, filling her ears, drowning her in the sound of terror, pain, grief, guilt…there was a rushing in her ears…she was drowning, asphyxiating…_

Lily woke up to see James Potter staring at her, concern evident on his face. When he realised she was awake, he rearranged his features into a somewhat unconvincing smile.

"Another one?"

Lily gave him a small smile in return. "Yeah. Sorry to bother you. You don't have to come."

The Head Boy rolled his hazel eyes. "Lily, I don't mind. In fact, I want to. You shouldn't have to deal with this alone. Besides, you're kind of cute when you're all tired and bleary-eyed…"

Lily threw a pillow at him.

They had been back at school for two weeks now and Lily had been plagued by nightmares every single night. She had experienced them at Alice's but Mrs Noble had been able to brew her a potion for dreamless sleep. At school, however, she had no such luxury and thus had the bear the haunting visions night after night/ at first, she had cast a Silencing Charm over her bed but James has discovered her in the common room on the fourth night back, crying. He had made her promise never to cast the charm again, on pain of a Marauder's prank. And so became the strange arrangements that saw the two former enemies and not quite friends spending the night together. And so the line between acquaintance and friend became blurred until they really did consider each other close friends.

**Hey Lily! Are you alright, you seem really quiet? X**

_Probably because she can't get a word in edgeways._

**Shut up Alice. Ignore her. She's the one who spent all breakfast pining over Frank Longbottom. They've been apart less than a month for Merlin's sake…**

_MARLENE! I just miss him. Anyway Lils, sure you're ok? _

**_I'm fine guys. Just tired from patrol last night._**

…We weren't on patrol last night. Remus was.

**_James!_**

**Ha Lils, busted. **

**_Thanks a lot Potter. Go find your own notes to pass._**

Ah Lils, you love me really. Anyway, must go, me and Padfoot are busy, so I'm afraid I'll have to leave you to discuss how handsome and charming I am.

**_Prat._**

You love it really.

**You blatantly do though Lils. Got a crush?**

**_No! of course not, we're just friends._**

_Yes she has._

**_I hate you both._**

**Sure you do.**

_MCGONAGALL!_

**Ah shit, we're busted.**

**_Oh no wait, it's fine, she was looking at the Marauders._**

_What have they done this time?_

**_Something moronic probably. They're such idiots. Well, not so much Remus._**

**They're hot though. Well, not Peter. And Remus is more the studious type, though don't get me wrong, he's gorgeous. Potter's handsome as hell, of course but don't worry, I won't steal him from you Lils. But as for Sirius…OH MY MERLIN, sexy doesn't even cover it…**

**_MARLENE!_**

_^What she said._

Wary of being caught, the three girls abandoned their paper conversation and tuned back into the lesson, just in time to see a furious McGonagall round on James and Sirius, who had apparently bewitched the toy animal they were supposed to be transfiguring to fly around the room dropping ink pellets on the Slytherins. Lily noticed Severus seemed to have been hit the worst and to be honest, she couldn't say she was surprised, not that she particularly minded. Gone were the days when she would have leapt to the slimeball's defence, berating the Marauders with a fiery passion to match her hair. Now, though, it was all she could do to hold in her laughter at the comical sight of the normally arrogant and haughty Slytherins dripping in black ink.

"Completely unnecessary attack…you might think it funny now but you'll be wishing you'd paid more attention when you're sitting your NEWTS! 20 points from Gryffindor!"

McGonagall's eyes rested on the Slytherins and the corners of her mouth twitched, despite her best efforts to control herself. With a final glare at the troublemakers, she dismissed the class, vanishing the ink so that the victims stood, apocalyptic with rage but clean. Still chortling, the Marauders led the exodus from the classroom.

Life soon settled into a familiar routine- lessons, (way too much) homework, prefect duties and shouting at James and Sirius.


End file.
